Michelle Obama: Frustrated by the “Pettiness” of Politics in 2018

With news that Hillary Clinton will be campaigning with Andrew Gillum in his bid to become Florida’s Governor, Michelle Obama took a trip to South Florida to hype up people to register to vote. Although she argued that she was not stumping for any particular candidate, attendees sported t-shirts that read “Andrew Gillum for Governor.”

Speaking to the younger crowd, Obama explained that “It’s time for us to move out of the way and let you lead. This is no longer about me, it’s not about Barack, it’s about you.”

Stressing that she was frustrated by the “daily chaos,” “meanness” and “pettiness” that the political landscape has turned to, Obama said that she instead thought of her father. This is because “He went to vote for the same reason he went to work — to provide for his family.”

She reminded attendees that every vote counts, and explained that “If a candidate gets elected with a less than 37 percent turnout rate, and we assume the opponents get some of those votes, then that means the percentage of people who actually voted for that candidate is even smaller. So if you’re an elected official who wins on those margins, who are you looking out for once you’re in office? … If a storm hits and the lights go out, which neighborhood are you going to make sure gets its power back on first?”

In addition, other celebrities also attended the event that was aimed at engaging the younger audience to register to vote for the November midterm elections.

Daniel Molina was the Opinion Editor of his high school’s newspaper, and he was also Editor-in-Chief of Miami Dade College’s Urbana literary and arts magazine wherein he also won the 2013 FCSAA Best Fiction Story in the State of Florida Award. He’s currently pursuing his Bachelor’s in English Literature. Hobbies in his free time include reading, writing and watching films and basketball.